Do you want to feel more confident when speaking on the issues you care about?

Do you want to be a change-maker in your community?

Apply to the Vocal Point: Speak Up, Speak Out Fellowship

Join your peers and Jewish educators to gain the skills and confidence you need to talk publicly about the things you care about the most.

What

Vocal Point is an exciting online leadership development opportunity to learn new tools for speaking publicly on issues you are most passionate about.

This is a two-part program.

• First, we will prepare you to use your voice to engage in discussion across differences of background, opinion, and perspective, both on a specific topic that interests you, and more broadly.
• Then, we will give you the opportunity to apply your skillset within the issue area of your choice.

Who

Vocal Point is open to self-identifying Jewish women, girls, and genderqueer folks ages 16-22. We are committed to including a diverse range of voices, experiences, and identities in terms of race, ethnicity, gender expression and identity, sexual orientation, ability, and socioeconomic status/class. In addition, we seek to include young people from all walks of Jewish backgrounds.

You are eligible to apply for this program if:

• You self-identify as a Jewish girl, young woman, or genderqueer person. We welcome both cis and trans applicants.
• You will be 16-22 years old when the program launches in September.
• You are fluent in written and spoken English.
• You are committed to developing your voice and leadership skills.
• You live in a time zone that corresponds to a continental-U.S. time zone (Eastern, Central, Mountain, or Pacific). This is necessary for participation in our online meetings at the times described below.
• You are available during the meeting times described below.

If you have questions about eligibility, check out our FAQs or email bex@jgirlsmagazine.org.

When

Applications are open through December 27 at 11:59pm Pacific Time. There is an early action deadline of December 20. You may be contacted for an interview. We will finalize decisions by early January.

jGirls+ cares about teen wellbeing. In recognition of competing deadlines, if you need an additional week or two to submit your Teen Staff application, please request an extension by emailing info@jgirlsmagazine.org.

Part One of the program will start in late January 2023, and continue through early December. Workshops are held over six Wednesdays from 7:30–9:30pm* Eastern, as follows:

• 12/3: Info session & mini-workshop (sign up here)
• 12/20: Early action application deadline
• 12/27: Late application deadline
• 1/21: Orientation
• 2/4: Workshop #1
• 2/18: Workshop #2
• 3/10: Workshop #3
• 4/7: Workshop #4
• 5/5: Workshop #5

*dates and time might change slightly depending on participant schedules.

You will also meet monthly between session with a smaller group (schedule to be determined, based on your availability).

Part Two of the program, meetings with your coach and mentor, will resume in September 2024 and continue through the semester.

Where

Because you will be learning with young people from all over the country, all work is conducted virtually via Zoom and Slack messaging.

There is no fee to participate.

Opportunities and Commitments

Training & Workshops

In the first half of the program, you will attend an orientation and five workshops with other participants to develop your public speaking skills, learn about different public speaking forums, and hone your message. These workshops will be lead by Zoey Fleisher and Gulienne Rollins.

Each workshop is framed by women in the Biblical Exodus story: Miriam, Yocheved, Shifra and Puah, Tzipporah, and Batya*. First, you will analyze how each woman spoke up for collective liberation. Then, you will apply the rhetorical tactics these women used to address the issues you are most passionate about. Through this training, you will learn how to match varied public speaking skills to the appropriate public speaking forums and confidently express your thoughts and ideas.

*You do not need to be familiar with these women or have any prior experience with Torah study to participate.

Small Cohort Meetings & Independent Work

Between each workshop, you will meet with a smaller cohort to discuss relevant articles and practice the public speaking skills you have learned. These cohort meetings will provide further opportunities for you to learn from your peers, build leadership and communication skills, and connect your Jewish and gender identities to your activism.

Each small cohort will meet once between each session, for about an hour. Specific times for these meetings will be determined based on the schedules of participants, so you’ll need some scheduling flexibility. If you have questions about this, please email bex@jgirlsmagazine.org.

You will also have independent work, such as developing or practicing your public speaking.

You can expect to spend 2-4 hours/month on independent work and group meetings.

Practicum

In the second half of the program, we will connect you with a Jewish mentor in your issue-area of interest, as well as a coach who will continue to support you as you develop your public speaking skills. jGirls+ staff and mentors will work with participants to locate concrete opportunities to speak publicly, such as panel discussions, conferences, and workshops.

Please note: while staff and mentors will do their best to match participants to suitable opportunities, we cannot guarantee placement.

Outcomes

This program offers rich opportunities for personal growth, skill-building, community-building, and leadership development. Upon conclusion of the program, you will have gained:

• Extensive public speaking skills and the tools to adapt your message to a variety of contexts and forums.
• Boosted confidence in yourself, your ideas, your message, and your lived experience.
• A community of support, connection, and friendship
• Mentors who are invested in your personal growth
• Access to experts in public speaking and activism
• Skills to bring your voices and perspectives to the public conversation around today’s critical issues.

Vocal Point is a new and developing program, and members of the spring cohort will have the exciting opportunity to help build this fellowship from the ground up!

Next Steps

The application for Vocal Point is a Google Form that can be accessed once you complete the Start My Application section, below. We strongly recommend that you download a PDF preview of the application before you begin. Please read this document carefully and prepare all materials before continuing to the form below.

All materials and responses must be uploaded via the online application form—do not email these to us directly. If you have trouble uploading, please contact bex@jgirlsmagazine.org.

For More Information

Have questions about what participating in Vocal Point entails?

Join us for a Zoom info session on December 3rd from 7-8pm Eastern. Sign up here!

If you cannot make the session, use the sign up sheet to ask questions or request a recording, or email bex@jgirlsmagazine.org.

This project was made possible with support from the Covenant Foundation and other generous donors.

Nominate a young Jewish feminist for Vocal Point!

Know a young woman-identifying person who would be perfect for the program? Nominate them using our form and we will reach out to them on your behalf!